In most cases, when someone informs me that they have good news and bad news for me, I have him deliver the bad news first. The reason is twofold- it gets the bad news out of the way as soon as possible, and it generally leaves the conversation on a positive note. However, in this case I'll give you the good news first, since it's much shorter, and then move on to the bad news, which I think requires a bit more explanation.
The good news is that my computer is back up and running, and so I'll be able to update my blog when I see fit. If there's one thing a month or so without 24/7 computer access has taught me, it's that blogs are both more practical and easier to maintain than conventional web sites. I have to jump through a number of hoops to update my site, but I can tinker with my blog quickly and relatively painlessly from any computer connected to the Web. Because of this, I'm currently working on transferring the important stuff from my site to various blogs, with this one to be used as the main page. I'll keep you updated as the transition happens.
And now, the bad news. Aforementioned transfer aside, I can't make any promises for how often I'll update in the future. You may have noticed in the past few years that the number of posts here have gone down. Simply put, I'm just not motivated like I used to be. Back when I started writing about movies on the Internet, I had a pretty wide circle of friends on the 'Net, always asking me what I thought of new (and some old) movies. Originally I'd e-Mail reviews to them, but I figured it'd be just as easy to post them on a site, for them to read at their leisure, without cluttering up their Inboxes. As I wrote more reviews and got more positive feedback, I attempted to use my site as a kind of calling card, in the hope that I might be able to find a critic job.
But as the years have passed, I've become less interested in writing about film. Don't get me wrong- I'm as passionate about cinema as ever. However, there are many different ways to love movies, and compared to watching (and re-watching), discussing, and reading about film, writing just doesn't interest me as much. The truth is that it takes me longer than it used to to write reviews, time which I'd rather spend actually watching movies. Which is not to say that I'm flat-out not interested in writing, but I've had enough creative dry spells in my life that when I do find myself motivated to write, it's going to be something more substantial. This isn't just me talking out of my ass, mind you- just a few weeks ago I churned out a new short film screenplay, so it's not like I never do any writing. But when it comes to blogging pro bono about cinema, it's got to be a labor of love or else it just turns into labor.
Which brings me to my second problem. I've sort of resigned myself to the idea that I probably won't end up a film critic. With so many passionate bloggers out there, the market for paying critics has kinda plummeted lately, and I'll be the first to admit that there are many better and more prolific than I am. Because of this I've accepted the fact that my thoughts on movies are only of interest to a handful of people out there, most of whom (a) I see on a regular basis, or (b) I keep in touch with via e-Mail. For those of you who don't fall into either category, I apologize, and I hope you enjoy the old stuff and are patient enough to wait for whatever new stuff I end up posting. All I can say is that it's become too much work for not enough payoff, and if that's not reason enough for you, then see above.
I hope that you'll check back here every once in a while, though I'll understand if you don't. Perhaps in the future I'll be able to post more film-related pieces, but at present I just don't have it in me anymore. I do hope to post something on my favorite films of 2006 before the end of the month, but as usual, I make no promises.
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